Cuddy Transcript in PDF format

. TERRITORY OF ARIZONA ~ s .
COUNTY OF COCHISE ~
t-l. fl. . Smith being duly sworn deposes and says that his name is
M. A. Smith and that his business is
by the Coroner -
TERRITORY OF ARIZONA
COUNTY OF COCHISE
Lawyer - Mr Smith was excued
W. A. C ddy belngduly sworn deposes and say that his name is
William A. Cuddy and that he res' des in Tombstone Cochioe C unty A.T.
and that hi busines 1s that of The t rical M nager
Statement.
I was sanding at the Post Office when 11" . Dillon of the firm
o D1110n & Kinneally ~ informe me that their was some troubl e between
the Earps and other men which he termed cow boys then r. Page told
me that the Co\l Boys were down at Fly 's galary I wal ked down as far
as Flys house and there I s w sheriff Behan and four farmer as I
approached one of them Mr. Wm Clanton put his hand on his pistol
as if n fear of Somebody then he recognized me he removed his
hand Sheriff Behan's back was towards me! hen hear Mr . Bah n say
I wont have no fighting you mus t give me your fire arms or leave
town immediately Ike Clanton ans ered they will have no trolble with
us ohnny we are going to leave town now I then addre sed Mr. Behan
good day Johnny and he answered good day sir I passed on t hr ugh the
lots towards Allen Street crossed over a fence corner of Allen and
3d ~ walked qu ckly up Allen St . and got about opposite the Mexican
dance house and the shooting bega I looked towards ~ I had left
the Sher fr and the party of 4 men nd I seen Ike Clanton exit through
the back door of the little house next to Flys in a minute or half
he passed me on Allen street and run aaross into the dance house
I began calling out the sheriff is kill ed
I then went back and saw the dead bodies -
I did not know anyone beside the sheriff and the Clantona - One of
the man had a horse there and appeared to be about mounting - They
were standing against the i ttle house about 4 foot back from the
sidewalk The Sheriff s id to Wyatt Earp I will have to arres you
Mr . Earp replied no one could arrest me now Mr Comstock said th ir
is no hurry in arresting this man he done just right in killing them
and the people will uphold them and hen Wyatt Earp said you bet we
did r ght we had to do it and you threw us J ohnny you told us they
were disarmed - I hen left he scene of action - Mr. Behan hen
denied that he said that they \'iere disarmed Behan said something in
ex lana tion and I wa.lked w y I heard Behan say that he was not
afraid to arrest Earp 1f he wanted to but he did not want to just
them - Ear said as soon as the excitement is over I am willing to
be arrested -
To my knowledge the e were but two men present beside the sheriff and
the 2 Clanton boys - Their might have been more but I do not remember
see ng them it was not more than 5 or less than 3 minutes before
the firing cownenced. - Billy Clanton was standing in the group
wi h the arty - I eft the sheriff standing with the party the last
I saw -
A the t ime I saw them Billy Clanton was not standing talking to a
5th party I passed quickl y by - Billy Clanton and one of the other
two had a cartra~e Be t on and were armed and the others I could not
see whether hey were armed or not but I think not. -
Mr. Claiborn was oalled the witness says that he cannot identify him
as hay ng been their some thing runs t hrough my mind as having seen
him somewhere in connection with this affair -
that place is the only place ~ I seen any of the parties in connec��tion
with this affair with the exception of dead bodies Wyatt Earp and
Sheriff Behan which was after the shooting -
sl WILLIAM A. CUDDY

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

Found in Cochise County Courthouse. Transferred to Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, History and Archives Division, in April 2010.

RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

Original documents in custody of Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. No commercial, for profit, use or any use on the Internet without express prior written consent of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, History and Archives Division. Page number in parentheses represents the original order as this document appears in Inquest.

Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. History and Archives Division.

Full Text

. TERRITORY OF ARIZONA ~ s .
COUNTY OF COCHISE ~
t-l. fl. . Smith being duly sworn deposes and says that his name is
M. A. Smith and that his business is
by the Coroner -
TERRITORY OF ARIZONA
COUNTY OF COCHISE
Lawyer - Mr Smith was excued
W. A. C ddy belngduly sworn deposes and say that his name is
William A. Cuddy and that he res' des in Tombstone Cochioe C unty A.T.
and that hi busines 1s that of The t rical M nager
Statement.
I was sanding at the Post Office when 11" . Dillon of the firm
o D1110n & Kinneally ~ informe me that their was some troubl e between
the Earps and other men which he termed cow boys then r. Page told
me that the Co\l Boys were down at Fly 's galary I wal ked down as far
as Flys house and there I s w sheriff Behan and four farmer as I
approached one of them Mr. Wm Clanton put his hand on his pistol
as if n fear of Somebody then he recognized me he removed his
hand Sheriff Behan's back was towards me! hen hear Mr . Bah n say
I wont have no fighting you mus t give me your fire arms or leave
town immediately Ike Clanton ans ered they will have no trolble with
us ohnny we are going to leave town now I then addre sed Mr. Behan
good day Johnny and he answered good day sir I passed on t hr ugh the
lots towards Allen Street crossed over a fence corner of Allen and
3d ~ walked qu ckly up Allen St . and got about opposite the Mexican
dance house and the shooting bega I looked towards ~ I had left
the Sher fr and the party of 4 men nd I seen Ike Clanton exit through
the back door of the little house next to Flys in a minute or half
he passed me on Allen street and run aaross into the dance house
I began calling out the sheriff is kill ed
I then went back and saw the dead bodies -
I did not know anyone beside the sheriff and the Clantona - One of
the man had a horse there and appeared to be about mounting - They
were standing against the i ttle house about 4 foot back from the
sidewalk The Sheriff s id to Wyatt Earp I will have to arres you
Mr . Earp replied no one could arrest me now Mr Comstock said th ir
is no hurry in arresting this man he done just right in killing them
and the people will uphold them and hen Wyatt Earp said you bet we
did r ght we had to do it and you threw us J ohnny you told us they
were disarmed - I hen left he scene of action - Mr. Behan hen
denied that he said that they \'iere disarmed Behan said something in
ex lana tion and I wa.lked w y I heard Behan say that he was not
afraid to arrest Earp 1f he wanted to but he did not want to just
them - Ear said as soon as the excitement is over I am willing to
be arrested -
To my knowledge the e were but two men present beside the sheriff and
the 2 Clanton boys - Their might have been more but I do not remember
see ng them it was not more than 5 or less than 3 minutes before
the firing cownenced. - Billy Clanton was standing in the group
wi h the arty - I eft the sheriff standing with the party the last
I saw -
A the t ime I saw them Billy Clanton was not standing talking to a
5th party I passed quickl y by - Billy Clanton and one of the other
two had a cartra~e Be t on and were armed and the others I could not
see whether hey were armed or not but I think not. -
Mr. Claiborn was oalled the witness says that he cannot identify him
as hay ng been their some thing runs t hrough my mind as having seen
him somewhere in connection with this affair -
that place is the only place ~ I seen any of the parties in connec��tion
with this affair with the exception of dead bodies Wyatt Earp and
Sheriff Behan which was after the shooting -
sl WILLIAM A. CUDDY